Thursday, August 25, 2016

Did Trump Flip Flop On Amnesty? Not Even Close, And Here's The Proof

 Donald-Trump-1

Much has been made about a supposed 'flip flop ' on amnesty for illegal aliens by Donald Trump.

This is sheer horse manure for the #nevertrumpers to wallow in, like they were actually going to vote for him anyway. Trump isn't remotely selling 'amnesty.' Not even close.

What Trump has always said is that he wants a priority on border control (please look up what that word 'priority' means), that he wants to enforce our current immigration laws vet who's here and establish criteria for who gets deported and who qualifies to stay with some kind of legal status. He's not saying anything different in the clip above. Ann Coulter has been right about a lot of things, but she's vastly overreacting here. I'd expect that kind of thing from the #nevertrumpers, a certain loathsome senator from Texas and the folks at places like the NRO and CNN. Let's look at what Trump actually had to say, in full. And why it matters:



The only thing Donald Trump has changed is to underline that given the neglect of this issue for a quarter century or more by Washington, we also need to allow for a certain amount of compassion in some cases and establish a procedure for that.

And here's another amazing thing about it.
This is a crowded to capacity town hall meeting on national TV. When have you ever seen a presidential candidate in living memory actually have a conversation with his audience like this? When have you seen a presidential candidate demonstrate his faith in living democracy by taking a risk of this kind, listening to his audience and actually asking them what they think, not using some carefully scripted, rehearsed questioner and rehearsed answer ala' Mrs. Clinton, but en masse,in a crowd, live, on national TV where everyone can see?

The most brilliant thing of all is the message Donald Trump is sending to his fellow Americans that they haven't heard in years from anyone in power, that what they want and what they think matters.

And this is the man some people call an authoritarian and an egoist!

Another thing Trump hasn't wavered on at all is cutting back on H1B visa abuse that allows big corporations to actually fire Americans simply to import low wage labor to take their jobs, especially in the tech sector.

Why else do you think Zuckerberg and the rest of them are so invested in a Clinton victory?

Let me,in passing, also eliminate a #nevertrump talking point. Trump has indeed hired foreign workers for his hotels during the busy seasons, but lawfully under the H2B program, which means they are allowed to work legally for a very limited period of time and then must be returned to their country of origin. H1B programs allow permanent residency.

People have been using that 11 million figure for a long time now. We are talking about, most likely, 20 to 25 million people. Deporting all of them is possible, but is it desirable? I don't think so.

A number of those people are indeed undesirable migrants. They've committed numerous crimes, they're gang members, they've taken vast advantage of our social welfare system and contribute little to America. That's what happens when you have no borders.

Then there are others, who have established roots, have lived lawfully except for the initial crime of illegally crossing the border, whom work productively, and who show every sign of wanting to be part of America. Is there any reason not to establish criteria that allows a number of those who meet it to stay with some kind of legal status?

What Trump is doing is laying the groundwork for a brand new immigration policy to replace the travesty we have now, one where illegal migration is mostly gone, where migrant's applications can be scrutinized and migrants themselves carefully vetted according to a formula and criteria developed and implemented by the admitting sovereign country, the United States. Immigration, after all, is a privilege, not a right. That is a sensible and defensible policy, especially since it involves solving the main problem...porous borders and unlimited illegal migration.


That kind of policy is exactly what high immigration target countries like Australia, New Zealand and Canada have adopted to decide who is allowed to legally migrate and who isn't. And it's a smart, sustainable one, although Canada has been a little odd lately on 'rapefugees' since that part time lefty dance instructor Trudeau took over from Stephen Harper.

Trump's policy ideas on immigration align exactly with this kind of common sense approach.


Amnesty they ain't.


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